


Dealing with the Storm ahead

by Korkyra



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Smallville, Superman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Bad Weather, Established Relationship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor, Hurricanes & Typhoons, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mission Fic, Mission Reports, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Protective Older Brothers, Reminiscing, Writing Exercise, emergencies, references to movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:55:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26441548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korkyra/pseuds/Korkyra
Summary: Sometimes, the weather report gets it right.In these situations, you can only do so much.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Duke Thomas & Stephanie Brown, Clark Kent & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Clark Kent & Kon-El | Conner Kent & Lex Luthor, Clark Kent & Lex Luthor & Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Jon Lane Kent & Damian Wayne, Jon Lane Kent & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Lex Luthor, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Lois Lane, Kon-El | Conner Kent/Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 14
Kudos: 46





	Dealing with the Storm ahead

**Author's Note:**

> !! This fic includes !!
> 
> \- extreme weather situation and things related to it, so in case you don't want to remember things, fell free to skip it entirely  
> \- may not be as accurately depicted or as graphic  
> \- idealistic bs, no deaths  
> \- read at own discretion

Kon, or Superboy, when occasion calls for it, was never the one to listen to weather reports.

That morning, however, his curiosity just might have been piqued. They're not announcing a hurricane per se, though a shit storm it will be. All in a matter of hours. The weatherman on TV isn't looking too good whole explaining what's coming and honestly, the usual programme is never interrupted by a weather report, of all things. He and Clark are in the Daily Planet kitchen, mugs in hand, eyes on the screen, with Clark making mental notes of this.

"I assume you've heard the report." Lois walks up by the door, pursing her lips at the screen. "Boss wants us out the office by lunch so whatever you need to do here, be quick about it."

"I'd...be out earlier than that, Lois." Clark says, turning to her. "Storms like this can be quicker than predicted."

"It's coming from the ocean," Kon follows up softly, "the currents would usually drag it down south, but I don't think we'll be that lucky this time."

"...right." Lois nods. Of course, this was going to happen right when she decided to go tackle that one arms dealer having deep ties with the ministry of defence, or so the rumour went, but that would now obviously be a rain check.

"Let's get going then." The woman smiles wide as she turns on her heels, walking up to the fire alarm and smashing it.

"I'll worry about this building, you boys head for the town, I know you will." She adds as she casually kicks the broken glass out of the way as the alarm blares throughout the building. "Preferably before a certain parent calls _you_ , specifically."

"...Lois..." Clark whines as he puts his coffee down.

"Off you go, Smallville." She waves at him with a bright smile as people start running down the corridors, following them at a more leisurely pace.

"Yes, ma'am." The man sighed, tugging on his necktie.

"Take care, kid." Lois adds before disappearing behind the door.

"Will do!" Kon laughs.

"Sorry, Kon, looks like your tour will have to wait." Clark says, making quick work of the buttons.

"It's alright, Clark." Kon assures him. "That a new shirt?"

"Yes. Lois made fun of me for being Superman's biggest fan with my last one."

"Nice save."

"Agreed."

Kon, for his part, merely unzipped his jacket to reveal the “S” on his T-shirt and removed the glasses he was wearing. His eyes went from green to an alien blue hue, resembling Superman's own more, with his hair curling up slightly tighter. Not much, upon closer inspection, but it did the trick of concealing his identity. He wore the glasses purely as a fashion statement these days, having gained enough control over his powers over the years not to need them in case his emotions got the better of him and his eyes start glowing in the middle of a conversation. Lex certainly had a worthwhile project with them, on the side. Clark, well, he never actually bothered, so when people said he resembled Superman, he merely laughed it off. Lois had been pissed he had concealed that from her but did understand the why. After a few incidents, the caped community over the bay had with that, she went all out in making sure people never, as in ever, connect the two. Calling Clark out on his Superman fangirl in the office was a part of it.

"The plan is to make a few rounds and get out as soon as we can. In case of emergency, I'll head out, you return home, okay?" Superman says as he opens a window, casting a quick glance around if someone was watching. The traffic down below went the usual rush hour dense, making slow progress. at least people took the warnings seriously. He'll have to take care of that school, though.

"I'll cover the bay area." Superboy says as he tosses himself out the window.

"Make sure your communicator is on!" Superman calls after him, exiting in a more graceful manner.

"Sure!" Kon shouts back, already at a distance as he tucks the device behind his hear.

"Wait for me!" A familiar voice reaches him, making him stop mid-air.

"Jon? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Kon asks as the younger boy flies up to him.

"Insane weather alarm, sent us home." Jon grins, new cape all around him in the wind. "What's the plan, Kon?"

"The plan is you not being around the bay when the storm hits." Kon raises a brow, Jon already making a disappointed face. "But how's this, Superman went to help out with a school, want to join him?"

"Oh, come on, Kon, let me help you for at least a little while!" Jon begged, putting on his very best puppy eyes.

"...I don't know, Jon-" Kon scratches the back of his head, brows knitting together.

" _What's the matter, Kon?_ " Superman's voice reaches him over the communicator.

"Jon's here." He says, pointing to the device as Jon still focuses on him.

" _What?_ "

"Kon..." Jon whines as he fumbles with his own communicator.

"Dad, I won't bother him, I just want to help out a bit!" He assured, puppy eyes also on the communicator. Kon reckoned Superman would probably feel them more than he'll see them.

" _Jon-_ " A sigh. Some silence as he contemplates.

" _...would you mind him around, Kon?_ "

"No, I wouldn't," Kon says, giving Jon one of his own pointed looks, " _if_ he promises to go over to you when I say so."

"I will! I promise!" Jon's quick to swear on his honour, making the scout sign.

" _Alright, then. Thank you, Kon._ " Superman says, children noises in the background, " _Jon, you heard him. Listen to what he says._ "

"Yes-"

" _Stay in touch._ "

"Will do." Kon answers that one, motioning for Jon to follow him as he resumes his way to the bay.

"I won't give you trouble, Kon, I-" Jon starts babbling excitedly, flying all around him before Kon grabs him by the shoulders and turns him into a flight appropriate position.

"I know you won't." The older of the two gives a small caring smile as he lets go. "It's just, I'm not the one having to go back to a house where Lois has the last word."

"...fish sticks."

"Forgot that bit, have you?"

"...might have." Jon mutters, looking briefly to the side.

He then moves to fly side by side with Kon.

"It's just...we're all busy lately, I haven't seen you for a while." He confesses, tone not that excited anymore.

"I know, Jon, I'm sorry for that." The older of the two casts him an apologetic look.

"No, no, I mean, you don't have to be sorry, I just saw this as an opportunity to spend some time with you." Jon explains, quickly.

Kon pats him on the head.

"Free this Sunday?" He asks.

"Should be, why?" Ah, there's the excitement again.

"How about I take you for ice cream?" Kon asks, as they descend on the port.

"Really?" The younger boy follows.

"Yeah."

"Awesome!"

"I'll talk to them later about it, okay?" Kon says as they both walk up to some workers busy on the port.

"Anything we can help with?" He asks the first person they come across.

"What-oh, oh!" The man in a helmet and reflective waist coat lights up at the sight of the two meta-humans with the S on their fronts.

"Yes, that would be great. We-we are trying to get as much of equipment and boats into the hangars as we can, but some of the owners aren't reachable at this point. We would appreciate it if you could lens us a hand!" The man explains as he motions to the workers hurrying to gather whatever they could before the storm hits, with others taking care of loading the boats and ships on carriers before they can be moved into the mentioned hangars. Some were still in the water, moored to the metal posts.

"You help out with the equipment and I'll take care of the boats?" Kon looks at Jon, who is cracking his fingers.

"On it!"

"Thank you so much!" The man nearly cries.

Men opened the hangars and took notes of what went where, as well as where each boat from the pier went to. Jon was quick to gather whatever he could find on the shipyard, helping drag the bigger machinery inside, tying up the ones that couldn't be moved, while Kon made work with the biggest.

"Too bad Kara isn't here." Jon says as he closes a hangar door. "She'd be quicker with this."

"I think she's still out there with the Lanterns." Kon motions towards the skies as he secures some chains.

"...think dad will let me up there sometime?" Jon asks.

"Sure, but probably not yet." Kon answers him as he casts one more glance over the area. They did a pretty good job with this one.

The wind picking up and sky dark just over the horizon told them they were just in time, too.

"Jon, you should head back." Kon says, eyeing the brewing storm clouds in the not so great distance.

"...already?" Jon asks, landing next him.

"Sorry, little man." Kon ruffles his hair. "See those?" He points to the clouds.

"Yeah?" Jon tilts his head at the scene.

"That's what we've been warned about. It's going to hit us earlier than expected."

"I'm not afraid of some stupid storm clouds!" The younger huffs, puffing his chest up at the weather.

Kon rolls his eyes with a smile playing at his lips. "Of course not."

"The storm will do damage though, better not be caught up. Super or not, you're still in training."

"So are you!"

"...true. Still older, though."

"...now I know how Damian feels when he gets the youngest card."

"You can complain about us when you meet. Let me check where Superman is." Kon reaches for the communicator.

"You make sure you get home safe, too. Wouldn't want to go back to a penthouse where Luthor has the last word." Jon stick his tongue out.

* * *

Superman opened the line just in time to hear Kon laugh his pants off with Jon in the background. That...was a nice thing to hear. Them getting along.

" _Hey, uh, Superman, we're done with the port by the Queensland Bridge._ " Kon reports, interrupted by more laughter. " _I'm sending Jon back and I'll head to Fort Hob's park to see if the ferries are secure._ "

"Alright, tell Jon I'll meet him over Metropolis Park."

The line went static after that, Superman raising a brow.

" _What's the situation on your side?_ " Batman's voice overtakes the line.

"Hello to you, too, Batman." Superman grins at nothing as he flies over the resident area of Metropolis. "All is well. Finishing up some preparations before the storm hits."

" _It might hit Metropolis from the north east coastal side. Whether or not St Martin's Isle and Hell's Gate will hold some of it is-_ "

"Batman, it's going to hit you first. You're up north in this bay." Superman cuts in. "Should I-"

" _It's under control._ "

The line went dead.

_Someone's touchy, today._

* * *

Hovering over Fort Hob's Park, Kon was not having a good day. Three ferries arrived, confused tourists are all over the place and the weather is not turning for the better. The Metropolis Police Department guys and gals did their best to round them up but having them return to the boats was out of the question. Upon landing, Kon merely put his hand up to save the one in charge the trouble.

"Just...get these people away from here as soon as possible. I need to take care of the boats before they get washed into the front of the buildings here." He says, looking at the coast.

"Be quick. Ask the front desk of LexCorp Tower for assistance if you need, tell them I sent you." With that, he signalled the men working around the vessels to hand him over the ropes.

Guess he'll drag them over to the port. They might still have room for these.

The policemen and the tour guide cast a look towards the building, just in time to see a lighting flash behind it. Must be a sign.

After an intense two-minute debate, the tour guide and the two police sergeants decided it would be best not to offend the young man and take up the offer of asking the front desk of LexCorp Tower for assistance. The tour guide lost the penny toss, so he was the one to walk up to the ladies behind the extra polished desk and politely explain what transpired. Upon hearing who sent them here, they immediately jumped to organise something for the total of twenty-two tourists, their guide, two dogs, and eight police officials, complete with refreshments and snacks.

Outside, Kon managed to move the ferries and exchange a few words with the port workers before they retreated for the day. not much to do when a storm of that magnitude was about to hit them.

* * *

No sooner than Superman reported the city storm proof, the day turned to a surreal shade of dark and heavy grey, the sudden loss of sunlight triggering the automatic streetlights all around. Lighting flashed over his head in a cascade, all noise cancelled out. Then, the first thunder roared and cracked violently, the skies opened, absurd amounts of heavy rain pouring out heavily upon him, with a gust of air pushing him forward a bit, as Kon tried to wipe his eyes and get rid of the excess water, to no avail.

Hearing anything had become a challenge.

" _Superboy, that's enough for today._ " Superman informs him over the communicator, albeit somewhat broken in the transmission. " _The weather is getting worse; you should take cover. I'll take it from there._ "

"Understood." Kon replies-shouts out, rather.

Having enhanced senses wasn't much of a use right now. Not that he had the same range as Superman himself in the first place. 

About two minutes into this mess the winds managed to keep the rain away so he could see at least, having less trouble keeping himself steady.

"Superman, I'm heading over to Gotham." Kon says, tilting his head to the side a bit.

" _What? Superboy, can you repeat-_ "

A loud crack of thunder cut off the rest of the sentence, with the heavy dark clouds rolling over him, menacingly.

The bay area was void of life, much to his delight, not a soul outside. The thick curtain of rain pricked merciless, almost through his TTK.

Metropolis was flash flood proof, to a degree, being a planned city from scratch. Gotham.... Not so much.

The bay area of Gotham was already enduring waves crashing along the shore and some facilities, with streams of mud and murk washing down the sloped streets.

" _Superboy, I know you're there somewhere; we could use your tank skills._ " Red Robin joins the channel, or rather, hacks his way through. " _Head over to Sprang Bridge._ "

"Got it, Tim."

" _Aliases, Superboy!_ "

"Right, right..." Kon mutters as he corrects his course towards the mentioned area.

Upon reaching the location, he wastes no time jumping in. A few cars are stranded on the bridge which was staring to sway with the winds. Cape Carmine sheltered it to a degree, preventing a full onslaught of mother nature. Until a change of wind direction, that is. Better not waste time. 

Kon managed to get the cars and people in them across. They all shouted a thanks and sped off to safety before the city became little Venice.

"Red Robin, what's with the flood gates?" Kon shouts over the storm, pressing the communicators tightly to his ear.

" _Oh, you know._ " Red Robin replies. " _This is Gotham. The usual._ "

"Right. Who is it this time?"

" _Some low profile gangs. Spoiler, Signal, and Batgirl are on them._ "

Well, in that case...

"God help them."

" _Yeah. Nightwing and demon brat are dealing with a faction by the reservoir. Red Hood is sweeping though Old Gotham. I'm hacking into the water system servers to get those going. See if you can track Hood down._ "

Kon looks around him. Feels like the inside of an enraged washing machine on centrifuge.

" _In this weather?_ " He asks. Red Hood was a pain to track on a good day.

" _What's the matter, powers aren't waterproof?_ "

"You're hilarious."

" _I need five more minutes with this._ "

"Internet down?"

" _Half of Gotham is under black out and someone shovelled the optical by accident in some filed two hours ago so technically, yes, the Internet is down._ "

Kon almost dropped into the Sprang River laughing.

"Sorry, I thought you said someone killed the Internet with a shovel."

" _I am personally going to track them all down, from the moron who put the cables that shallow, the idiot who authorised it, and the one who decided to use the shovel in that field._ "

"Rip, Internet. Video killed the radio star and a shovel did the Internet in."

" _Superboy._ "

"Come on, it's comedy gold."

" _Not when I want to save a city from drowning._ "

"Like you don't have your own private optics."

" _They aren't linked to anything public. I need some gateway to work._ "

"Should I try manual?"

" _No, I got it. I'm redirecting the flood now._ "

"Red Robin, not to dampen your triumph, but shouldn't you consider calling in Aquaman for this? This is a Superman-doesn't-exactly-want-me-outside level storm."

" _Nightwing contacted him, he should be over as soon as he deals with something of his own._ "

"Oh, good-"

Kon's surroundings became even darker for a moment.

"Shit-"

On Red Robin's end, all he could hear was static.

"Superboy?" Red Robin calls.

Nothing.

"Superboy, answer me."

Still nothing.

"Su-Kon!" He then yells at the com, knocking his chair back.

The cell phone next to the computer flashes with the caller ID being exactly who he was shouting at.

"Kon-" Relief washes over him much like the wave did over Kon.

Who pulled himself up from the concrete of the swaying bridge, phone in hand.

"Dude, my communicator got washed away, this is ridiculous." He mutters, spitting out water. It was nasty.

" _... How is it that I hear you so clear then?_ "

How?

"Oh, dad got me a new phone."

" _...._ "

"Tim?"

" _I'm going to pull a heist on Luthor's communication lab one of these days._ "

"...dude."

" _Wait, you don't have a communicator, it's-_ "

"Relax, you're on speaker, the phone is in my pocket, it's not going anywhere." Kon says as he makes his way towards Old Gotham, and lets the rain be his only enemy for now.

" _I want that phone, Kon._ "

"Chill, man."

" _Red Robin, status report._ " Nightwing's voice reaches them. " _We secured the reservoir._ "

" _Affirmative, I got the flood gates under control._ " Red Robin says, tone falling serious again.

" _Great. Any word from the others?_ "

" _Not yet. Superboy joined us, he took care of the Sprang Bridge. Civilians trapped._ "

" _Okay. Damian and I will head back slowly. Hope we don't have to swim our way back._ "

" _Good luck with that. We're up to our butts in water._ " Batgirl joins the conversation, sounding irritated. " _All is clear on our end. A night or two in the basements of a precinct in this weather will make them sing._ "

" _Harsh._ " Nightwing whistles.

" _Want to join them?_ " Batgirl quips.

" _What, no. I think locking them up in a precinct basement is a great idea._ "

" _Thanks._ "

Another second of static crackles over the communicators.

" _I swear, on my guns, I will drown those fuckers myself if they don't spit out who set them up to pull this shit._ " Red Hood barks through the communicator with the sound of water pouring in the background.

" _Where are you?! Do you need help?!_ " Nightwing shouts. 

" _You heard him, spit it out._ " Batgirl drones.

" _Batgirl!_ "

" _I wouldn't, Nightwing, I really wouldn't._ " Signal chimes in.

" _Yeah, the flood gates are doing their job, but we need something a little more efficient._ " Spoiler says. " _We were almost swept away with the first wave._ "

" _No need. Superboy is here._ " Red Hood says. " _Later._ "

" _Hood, wait-_ "

" _Nightwing, leave it, better them than us._ " Signal placates, with a huff. " _I need a new outfit._ "

" _We all do._ " Spoiler mutters.

" _I just got these boots._ " Batgirl sighs.

* * *

Crime Alley, for once, wasn't the main stage of utter disaster, Old Gotham had its turn. A good deal of the buildings was in a dire need of restoration, from basement to roof. Some might have had the status of being abandoned but they still housed a few souls who had nowhere else to go. A downpour this bad could jeopardise that for a list of reasons Red Hood was too wet, and too irritated to go over. The day started out nice enough, now this is what they deal with. Gotham and its luck were a special existence in the Universe.

The racket behind him snaps him out of his thoughts. There could only ever be one person who'd walk around Old Gotham making noise like that and not necessarily be in immediate danger.

"Hi." Kon greets, wiping at his own face with little results, just as Red Hood turns around when the half meta approaches. "What's the plan?"

"Hi back. None too complicated this time." Red Hood says as they get moving. The streets were starting to flood, with the neglected drainage systems being way past their capacity by now. "See if there is anyone stuck in these buildings and call it a day after. I take it Red Robin informed you of the situation."

"Yeah. The flood gates should be fully operational now." Kon walks behind him, looking around with his x-ray vision. He spotted no one around, though some spots might be questionable seeing the lead in those tiles? obscured the view. Hearing past the rush of angry rain was a challenge in its own.

“You been walking around like that?” Red Hood asks, having stopped power-walking though the raised water ahead of him.

“What?” Kon blinks at him, caught by surprise.

He can’t make out much of Hood’s expression though that mask and domino but he’s sure he heard him sigh in frustration.

“can’t believe he lets you out in that in this weather and still live…” Hood mutters as he makes quick work of his hooded vest.

“Not a word.” He then says clear enough when that same vest finds itself on Kon’s shoulders, being zipped up, altogether a bit big on him, wit the trademark hood being pulled over his head.

Won’t save him from being wet, obviously, but at least he didn’t have to blink the rain out of his eyes constantly.

“…thanks.” Kon mutters, pulling on the hood slightly.

“Sense anyone?” The older of the two asks, resuming his marching.

“Not around here.”

A small nod of acknowledgement is cast his way.

“Then I’d go this-”

"Red Hood!" A voice calls out. A working girl, in a thin coat, drenched beyond recognition, shouted over the rain, waving for him to follow. "Over here! We found someone!"

The two follow her quickly through the narrow street, splashing the running murk all around them. Not like anyone is going to complain about the dirt on their facades.

“There, basement level.” The working girl, Holly, as she was known in the streets as, points.

The building he’s gesturing to is a particularly nasty piece of brickwork, Red Hood had to refrain from slapping himself over the face. He didn’t have to turn around to know what Kon thought. He could feel his utter confusion. How that architectural disaster still stood is beyond everyone, to be fair. As to why anyone would be anywhere near it, no matter how desperate they were, and Red Hood knew exactly how desperate that could be, was another thing they wouldn’t be looking into, either. One thing was for sure, though.

_He'll grate Bruce and Dick to grate the foundations Bruce's millions go to for these situations and grate them he will._

Pants now definitely ruined, with one knee in water as Hood leans down to inspect the basement, seeing a few people hurdled up on one corner, holding up their most precious things away from the rising water. The room was mostly clear of things that could make this difficult.

"You’ll be moving here, towards me, nice and orderly." He instructs, then kicks the fragile frame off, so it isn’t in the way with the glass broken and sticking out in the frame, Superboy holding up the entire wall just in case it decides to cave in. His fingers were slowly growing numb, but he pays them no attention as Hood and Holly pull people out.

"Anyone left?" Red Hood shouts though the hole.

No answer.

“I think that’s everyone.” Holly says, scanning the area as well.

“Holly!” Another feminine voice calls out, sounding relieved. They all turn to the source, that being another lightly clad woman with hands on her hips and three more girls around her. “You silly woman. You could have told us to come with you.”

“Don’t run off like that in storms like this.” She approaches Holly with a relieved look.

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just, I knew people would be here, so I went to check, and Red Hood was near so…” Holly explains, guilt all over her round face.

“Well thank the man!” One of the girls adds, rounding up the people. “Ask where we can house them, too.”

“Gi-”

“You can go to Father Benedict.” Red Hood speaks up as Kon slowly releases the wall he’s been holding up. “He’ll take you in. He has room. If not, he’ll make some.”

“…isn’t he that catholic guy who almost got chased out by the big shots for low key telling their wives it was okay to demand respect and love the gay kids instead of kicking them out in his sermons?” Gi, or Gina, asks.

“The very same.” Red Hood affirms.

“Well… if you recommend him…” The eldest comments, not looking too convinced.

“You can always leave there, I vouch for that.” The masked man assures them.

“…alright. Anything better than this downpour.”

Holly shoots an apologetic but grateful look at the two as they all start moving, hurrying to get out of this weather which didn’t seem to lessen up one bit.

"If it starts falling, we start running." Red Hood says, eyeing the structure. "Actually, we best get moving regardless.

Miraculously, the structure holds, despite turning into a fountain. For how long, well he's not an architect nor a civil engineer, he really can't tell. If it crumbles, at least nobody will be inside there or any other in the vicinity.

"Ah, crap-" Red Hood mutters, with Kon blinking at him before hearing the distinct rumble of a collapse set in motion.

Kon has them out of the way as the thing breaks apart, splashing the murk all over the narrow street, damaging the one next to it. Kon had miscalculated the distance there, and both ended up splashed along with the dirty waters.

“This is really not my day.” Kon mumbles, back all filthy but the downpour easily solves that problem. “The second time I’ve been washed away…”

“Second?”

“Yeah, I got plastered to the Sprang Bridge by a wave earlier.” Kon says.

“…you tell me that now?” Red Hood asks, incredulous.

“It’s hardly a big deal.” The younger assures him. “My call, didn’t pay attention and got a bit washed up.”

“You sure you still up for this?”

The look Kon had would make one of his father’s proud.

“Just asking, Luthor boy.” The other man raises his arms up in a placating manner, not without mirth in his voice.

Kon huffs, rolling his eyes.

“Mind if we take the roofs while searching?” He asks, looking around them.

“Nope.” Hood says, popping the p.

They proceed upwards. No point in walking the streets. Kon had all the enhanced senses one could need. Concentrating a bit more did the trick. Half a block down, not finding anyone in immediate troubles, they paused on top of an old industrial complex.

“Think they noticed I’m wearing your hood?” Kon asks, the thought occurring to him, making Red Hood laugh.

“I don’t think anyone would bother noticing in this shit.” He motions around, with the thick rain acting as a curtain of sorts. “The girls and those people will wake up tomorrow and probably think they’ve hallucinated the whole thing.”

Save, maybe, that one girl looking amused but opting to not say anything.

Kon thought the same. Not that he minded. Another thing, though.

“…No offence, but you don’t strike me as someone who would refer people to priests.”

“You’re right. I don’t usually. Father Benedict is another story. He really cares and he had the shelter renovated so why not send them where they wouldn’t be in danger of drowning.”

“Know him? Personally?” Kon asks, tilting his head.

“Yeah. He came around the block just when that scandal with Ma Gunn escalated. Kids were again without roof. He didn’t fare well nor have a good time at first, given his sermons and the general opinion regarding men of his part of the clergy. He was devastated but wouldn’t give up. Still avoiding standing near kids in public and immediately runs if there’s a chance he’d be alone in a room with a kid. He’s a riot.”

“Sounds interesting.” Kon smiles, imagining that.

“You should hear him on Pride Days.” Hood adds.

“I might visit.”

“Sense anyone else?” The Gotham vigilante asks.

“No.” Kon pulls on his gloves to un-stick them with miserable results. “From what I can tell, anyway.”

“…you okay?”

“Yeah, just ready to get out of this weather-” Speaking of which.

“What?”

“Wait.” He pulls out his fancy new phone from his pocket, switching channels. “Uhm, Red Robin?”

“ _Yes, Superboy?_ ”

“Mind contacting Superman? I don’t think he has access to this device.”

Kon left a message after getting away from the bridge. No answer came so he was safe to assume the man hadn’t seen it, yet, or maybe the message didn’t get through.

“ _Will do._ ”

“Thanks.”

“Where to next?” He asks, turning to Red Hood.

“A few places, not far from here. Lesser known squatting locations.”

“Lead the way.”

* * *

In Metropolis, currently experiencing what it was like in an intense car wash, Superman, having left Jon at home safely with Lois, burst through the Hall of Justice front doors, successfully making a mess of the entrance.

“Has anyone seen or heard from Kon?” He asks, shaking the water out of his face.

“Whoa there, Superman.” Green Lantern flies over to him, with a stack of towels in his hands. “No, we haven’t. I’m sure he’s fine. Have a towel, first. There’s enough water outside, we don’t need it in.”

“Diana?” Superman turns to Wonder Woman, seated at the centre table with a towel around her shoulders. She shakes her head.

“The Green Lantern is right. He will be fine.” She assures him.

“Check your phone.” Batman says, not taking his eyes off the projector wall, studying the blinking lights.

All areas hit worst by the storm raging outside, keeping track of the mission Nightwing and the rest of them underwent. Half of Gotham was still without power, the flood gates were finally functional, not without caused damage first, the dam was still intact, the south of Gotham was about three feet under water, so much for the functionality of the last water management system installation. A few buildings in the old part of Gotham collapsed due to the heavy rain, his inner Bruce already preparing himself for his second son’s wrath.

Apparently, a transparency check would be in order.

_Damian did complain he had nothing to do with his time._

Luckily for him, the child seemed to find tracking their funds entertaining enough. He was good at it, too.

Superman, however, didn’t seem convinced with their reassurances.

“Not to alarm you, but, if anything happened to him, I think we’d be the first to know. After Luthor, that is.” Green Lantern says. “Who’d be here, to get you.”

Superman blinks at him, towel still in hand. Well, put that way…

Just to be sure, however, he scanned the entire city for the biometrics of one Lex Luthor.

Which he recognised in a person, on top of LexCorp Tower, seated outside in this unholy downpour, with a cigar in his hands.

…he seemed to be in a mood Superman witnessed only once before, dating back what seemed many eons ago, when the world was new, and other people were threats to them both. Kon was still too small for diapers, then.

Best he does not disturb the Hydra while it was dormant.

“…a call would have been nice, though.” Superman mutters, visibly relaxing, his breathing resumed.

“…didn’t Batman tell you to check your phone?” Lantern raises a brow.

“…”

Check it he did.

“Oh.”

Diana merely sips on her tea. Green Lantern can’t, for the life of him, figure him out.

Batman ignores them altogether.

“Nightwing. Report.” He states as he still stares at all the troublesome areas of the city.

“ _All is taken care of._ ” Nightwing answers. “ _Provided Batgirl doesn’t accidentally drown the suspects in this case._ ”

“ _They will merely have their asses in water, like the rest of us!_ ” Batgirl shouts from somewhere behind.

“Commissioner Gordon would probably agree.” Batman says.

“ _Oh, and you might want to reconsider going into the cave for the time being._ ”

“…what happened to the cave?”

“ _You have a feature in it that doesn’t help you at this moment._ ”

Ah, the waterfall. Yes.

“Secure the perimeter, don’t wander off too far. Is Damian there?”

“ _Present, father._ ” Damian joins the conversation.

“There is a matter I’d like for you to look into. Dick, Tim, hand him the security codes for the foundations and financial reports.”

“ _How far do you want me to look into it?_ ”

“I’ll leave that to you.”

“ _In that case, I accept the task._ ”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“ _…you have, like, ten kids._ ” Tim drones out.

“Over and out.”

All in all, this seemed to be a good day for Gotham. On the condition Bruce Wayne survives Jason’s silent stare caused by the situation.

* * *

Lois stared though the window of their apartment in Metropolis, with Jon on the line with Damian while playing video games in his room, homework scattered over the dinner table but done.

With a sigh, still lamenting her missed chance for that scoop, she let the curtains go, walking by the table and glancing at the not quite messy but not that far off handwriting of her son, noting another rather immaculate handwriting in the books he used.

Kon’s.

Upon further inspection, she had to admit he had a knack for summarising the roundabout way the book explained the basics of natural sciences. She could picture that boy going on about the chapter as he noted down the important stuff for Jon to focus on.

Jon adored him. Clark, whether he admits it or not, found some inner peace with both boys present in his life and his own presence in theirs. Lois herself, admittedly, wasn’t thinking much about that situation when it occurred.

In fact, she laughed herself almost sick when the realisation sunk. A plot twist she would never had imagined, but there it was.

I was hilarious, hands down. The true pinnacle of her life.

Honestly, she still cracked up randomly when she was reminded of it.

Lex Luthor and his spectacular moods, bitching, and shit he could pull off aside, there was one thing she could always count on and that was him flexing his rich boy eyebrow at anything that might put Kon in danger.

Kon, for his part, really cared for Jon, so that meant he wasn’t going to be a target.

Clark sometimes couldn’t handle Lex being overprotective. She was all for it.

“Hey, guess what! Kon promised to take me for ice cream this Sunday!” She hears Jon shout in his excitement.

Pouring herself some coffee into a cup, that gave her an idea.

Grabbing her phone, she quickly typed out a message.

‘Hey, kid. Heard Jon yell to Damian about the ice cream Sunday over the console. I have nothing against it. Want in on that story I was telling you about the other day? Drop by earlier, I have a theory about it.

Lois.’

Admitting it to herself or not, there were some topics she could lay out to him and not listen to Clark and Jon whine about it being dangerous. She loved them to death but sometimes they had the opposite attitude of what she needed for inspiration regarding her work.

Kon had all the interesting gossip, too.

* * *

Damian, as he let Jon rant off about his day, making him a background noise, sits on top of Bruce’s desk with Titus snoring next to him as he runs through the numbers and uncovers all the dubious paths the funds took, making a mental list of people he’d like to behead for a statement but Dick, and Father, no doubt, would not stop nagging about it so he would leave that to them to deal with it on their own.

After he sent the list to Red Hood.

The pet shelter was entirely sunk at one point, it took every ounce of his self-restraint, which he didn’t have at that point, and Nightwing physically holding him back not to hunt people down.

By some stroke of luck, or whatever else, he didn’t care, the animals were safe, a lot of them not being present there in the first place. Not since he donated half his inheritance in land to the small group of people running that shelter on their own and what funds they had been donated over each year, making Bruce tilt when he heard, merely replacing that with something else later.

Another thunder roars outside, making him take off the earphones and take a good look outside. Frowning, he looks at the clock.

It wasn’t that late in the afternoon, but Jason still hadn’t called it.

Hadn’t he made Damian swear not to go outside after he dealt with his part of the mission they had; the youngest Wayne would be out looking for him.

Idiot brother.

He better be alright.

“Damian, are you even listening?” Jon’s voice screeches though the earphones around his neck. Rolling his eyes, he raises one to his ear as he continues typing on the laptop.

“I am not deaf, Jon, I hear you quite well. Kon promised to take you for ice cream following Sunday, splendid.”

_He’s so inviting himself over at Jason’s for lunch this Sunday, whether he likes it or not._

* * *

Streets swept through, hypothermia close to start settling in, the rain still full on pouring up to the point of them not hearing anything else, landing on the incognito roof of a building Jason made one of his places for retreat in Gotham, they could say it was a job well done.

Jason sent pre-coded group messages – one to the Bat-cave system and one to Damian lest that little demon decides to make up a reason to bypass his promise and come out looking for him.

There was just one more thing he’d like to take care of.

Back pressed up against a brick wall, thighs safely in those deceitful human hands, holding him securely as his own hands are tangled into the wet mess that was Jason’s hair, lips mere inches apart, masks and secret identities cast aside.

The silent question is there, the gap closed easily as good as an answer.

Jason’s lips are cold and so unfairly sweet.

Kon’s mind is as hazy as their surroundings, head spinning lightly, he almost hates himself for it. Almost. The gentle press he manages makes Jason smile into the soft kiss, letting him get away with it, for the moment.

A thumb over his cheek was all the warning Kon got before Jason leans in, claiming those impossibly warm lips for himself, feeling Kon’s skin heat up further.

The groan is lost in the rain, but not to Jason’s ears, as he tilts his head to deepen the kiss. He wanted to kiss him the moment he saw him round the corner earlier, he really had that wet look going for him and Jason wasn’t above admitting it.

Kon was a far cry from what one would call a shy person but the way he reacted around Jason was next to spectacular.

It was a special kind of high, for someone who was virtually unaffected by anything.

It had baffled Jason, at first, it really did.

The older between the two had every intention of just letting him pass that fascination phase or whatever it was, but Kon would never do what people expected him to. For better or worse. A thing he learned a bit late in their acquaintanceship.

No wonder Tim was laughing his sleep deprived ass off all the time.

Kon had a way to get under one’s skin in such a delicate way Jason had a realisation moment one morning over a cup of jasmine tea, raising a brow at himself when he caught his first thought being, well, about the cheerful green eyed sunshine personified, perfectly able to kick your ass in a blink of an eye with a storm behind the electric blue look where the sun was 0.5 seconds ago.

Tim, of course, zombie walked his way into the kitchen in that moment and it irked Jason to a degree that he’d recognised his reaction and why it was. Apparently, it happened enough times.

“…good luck.” Was all Tim had said then and Jason had soon found out why he chose those words specifically.

Turned out Kon had been crushing on him since some time ago, unsure whether that was a good idea, which incidentally made the crush even worse, but he did his best to not flaunt it, which is to say, everyone had an idea, save Jason.

Looking back, he should have suspected it wasn’t some misplaced puppy crush, Kon was too honest for his own good. The thick static between them made so much sense now.

Seeing Kon in turmoil whether Jason had intended to sound like he had every intention to sound like made Jason want to set himself on fire while he thought it incredibly sweet. Incidentally, so did everyone else.

Jason then decided to save them all with a simple but super effective question.

Three most intense seconds of their lives later, the tips of Kon’s ears were nearing a combustion point, stinging slight in the crisp air that was the summer heat as he and Jason left the premises for a date.

This time, a kiss in the rain in their case turned out a make out session in heavy downpours.

Which continues in Jason’s bathroom, under a warm gentle spray of the shower to wash out the cold and dirt. The intensity merely deepens, hands exploring exposed skin with light touches, gentle tracing of fingers, applying just enough pressure to set their blood on fire.

The strangled groan escaping Kon as he arches his back under those skilful fingers, in Jason’s lap, hands gripping him for dear life is a pretty little symphony in Jason’s ears and he delights in it. He likes to tease him lightly like this, the amount of trust Kon displays for him is…mesmerising.

Burning in the back of his head, soothing over his nerves like a gentle tidal wave washing over the shore on a lazy breach day.

A balm for his very soul.

* * *

The next morning arrives crisp with a clarity Jason never once experienced in the city that was Gotham. The air is so pure, he wakes from his deep slumber on instinct, blinking the sleep haze out lazily. The city is quiet. The storm seems to have passed.

No sound other than Kon’s even breathing, still sound asleep, tangled between both the sheets and Jason himself. Jason doesn’t even try to fight the lull of sleep beckoning him back, as if his waking state was a mere imagination of reality.

Arms securely around Kon’s sleeping form and he’s once again unavailable for the waking world outside.

It had other people who would deal with it.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains as following:
> 
> \- what is a time line™  
> \- Clark and Lex going with the "moderately functioning divorced parents" trope  
> \- Clark and Lex also going with the "he gets that from you" trope  
> \- Lois having made peace with some things she refuses to dig deeper into, in on good terms with Kon  
> \- Disaster Bi™ Clark is a thing  
> \- as is Rose Gold iPhone Bruce the Socialite and I try™ parent + Dark, Brooding, Serious Batman™  
> \- everyone needs therapy but this work too I guess  
> \- Jason P. Todd doesn't die, okay, he still goes through stuff and has an intense recovery period  
> \- consult Gotham Heights* for equally vague info  
> \- Heck you, DC™  
> \- Jon is happy to have a sibling™  
> \- Damian is more ready to deck people who look at his family funny each year™  
> \- I was going somewhere with this™
> 
> \- Happy readings  
> \- Feel free to use the comment section
> 
> *shameless self-promotion™


End file.
